China Earthquake

May 2008

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Powerpoint of conditions on the ground

Story from the field:  Sisters of Charity nurse victims of China's earthquake

China rocked by deadly earthquake

A major earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan County, Aba Prefecture in Sichuan Province (South West China) on Monday, 12th May. The official death toll currently stands at 60,560 and over 245,000 people have been injured. Reports indicate that the quake was the worst to strike China since the Tangshan earthquake in 1967, which claimed 242,000 lives.

A powerful aftershock measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit the province on Tuesday, exacerbating the impact of the disaster.  Many aftershocks have followed including the latest on Sunday 18^th May.

Latest reports indicate that 571,400 houses have collapsed and 279,000 houses destroyed in the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Yunnan and Hubei. 5.7 million people have been evacuated from danger areas and 14, 000 are believed to be buried in the rubble. More than 200 people in neighbouring provinces have also been killed.  The total number of people missing, displaced and affected by the earthquake is still to be confirmed.

The damage includes damage to schools, hospitals, roads and railway lines, factories, power lines and dams.  Large water pipes in these regions have also broken exposing drinking water to contamination and there are now fears of possible viral outbreaks.

Wenchuan County is a poor mountainous region, home to approximately 112,000 people. At the epicentre in Wenchun county 2,000 cell phone towers toppled and buildings collapsed. This has made access to information difficult. Blocked roads from landslides and other obstructions have compromised  physical access into the affected county.

In nearby counties such as Beichuan (160 kms north of Sichuan’s capital, Chengdu), 80% of the houses were destroyed and authorities are fearing that another 10,000 people have been killed. Thousands within the affected communities in the Beichuan area have fled since there are also grave fears that a lake could burst and cause flooding.

In another city, Dujiangyan 100 kilometers away, a middle school collapsed killing 50 students with 900 reported buried in the rubble.  Disaster headquarters have been set up in Dujiangyan. 

The Chinese army have begun to reach the isolated epicentre by helicopter and on foot, bringing much needed supplies. However, given the widespread disaster area and the tremendous losses of lives and property, the gap between the needs and the resources is still huge.

Caritas Australia’s present program work in China

Caritas Australia has worked in China for over 20 years with our long term partner CANGO (China Association for NGO Cooperation) on community development and poverty alleviation programs.   We currently support such programs through CANGO’s local partners in poor ethnic minority regions in the Southern province, Yunnan and also on an anti-trafficking program in Guangxi Province.  We also recently partnered and provided support to Jinde Charities (Church partner) for the snowstorm disaster response in Hunan Province (next to Guangxi).

What we are doing

Caritas Australia’s local partner, Jinde Charities have organised around 30 medically trained Sisters to head into the disaster zone, together with staff from the emergency team. They will be joining the volunteers of the Red Cross to care for the wounded victims by providing medical treatment and counselling. The volunteer team totals 45 comprising of both religious and non religious personnel and will offer services to survivors especially to the elderly and those made orphans by the quake. They have more recently added the provision of much needed tents to their priorities in order to contribute to assisting the over 5 million people who have been made homeless. Other members of the Caritas Internationalis network are also contributing to this. 

How you can help

Caritas Australia is accepting donations to assist those affected. To donate to Caritas Australia’s China Earthquake Appeal call 1800 024 413 or donate online.

Latest media release: Caritas takes donations for victims of Chinese earthquake